I love photographing 'seaweed' when I have the opportunity; this is 'bladder wrack'.
Bladder wrack is a common seaweed that grows around the coast of the UK and across the shores of the Atlantic and Baltic seas. It favours sheltered, rocky areas with some degree of disturbance and rough treatment from the sea. It is one of several species of 'wracks'.
A yellowy-brown when wet, but looks almost black when dried. It has pairs of 'bladders' (air-filled pockets) either side of the mid-rib, which usually makes it easy to identify.
It grows from 15 to 90 cm long and from 0.6-2.5 cm wide and has branched fronds often with a wavy edge. The air pockets give it the common name 'popweed', as you can pop these bladders like a seaweed bubble wrack.
Bladder wrack is high in iodine, vitamin C, iron and calcium. Research shows that bladder wrack inhibits the adhesion of a common gut bacteria called Helicobacter pylori to the gut wall. This bacteria is fairly common in humans and regular consumption of bladder wrack can help eliminate it from the body. So the message is; use bladder wrack regularly but in small amounts.
